180 team representing more than 170 countries in the world will be participating in the First Global World Robotics Championships in Mexico City from August 15th to August 18th, 2018. Teams include western giants like UK, Germany, Canada and the United States and the upcoming giants like China, India, Brazil, and Pakistan. To give an example of the seriousness of the competition this year, the US team was sponsored [expertise] by Google, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman-undisputedly some of the top Engineering resources in the United States. There is no doubt that the countries that didn’t show up in the top 25 world rankings last year are pulling out all the stops this year. Team Guyana is strategizing, preparing and awaiting alliance placement.

Top 10 results in this global competition requires more than a superior machine and this is where the advantage or disadvantage occurs. Teams are ranked based on how well their 3 team alliance performs in each match. So at best, any team has ⅓ control over victory. The rules have changed this year, each team will play 10 matches before the playoffs, so each team will have 10 different sets (of 2) of alliance partners, essentially each team will compete with 20 different team partners. Teams which are lucky enough to be placed with alliance partners with superior machines significantly improve their chances of emerging in the top 10.

Guyana’s team is talented and our machine one of the best in the competition so we await the release of the schedule revealing our alliance partners. Once revealed, Team Guyana scouts will then observe their partners’ machines and work together to determine strategy, who has the best machine to execute on what part of the plan. Be reminded that in 2017, Team Guyana was ranked second after day one of competition and on day 2 was partnered with teams whose robots were incapacitated. Essentially, none of our alliance partners on day two of competition were in a position to contribute points. That is where the luck of the draw comes in.

Team Guyana is ready to go and we are anxious to see the list of our placement partners. We thank all of our fans at home as they travel with out through this world class experience. It is important to note however, that our young people here are building global networks of friends and potential business partners. They are learning about the power of teamwork, collaboration and problem solving. Guyana will benefit as they return to share what they have learned with our more than 100 new STEM club prospects. Guyana is better for Team Guyana’s participation in the First Global World Championships.